Mei Cai Kou Rou

Where This Goes Wrong

Three changes of water on the mei cai. It is salty and gritty.

A lid ready when the pork goes in the oil — it spits hard.

Skin down in the bowl. It comes out on top.

Making Mei Cai Kou Rou

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1. Rinse the mei cai thoroughly, then soak it in warm water 30 minutes with three changes of water, until no grit remains. Squeeze dry and chop.

   Mark done

2. Simmer the pork belly whole in water 30 minutes, then lift it out and dry it well.

   Mark done

3. Rub the skin with the dark soy sauce and vinegar and leave 10 minutes to dry.

   Mark done

4. Heat the oil in a deep pan and lower the pork in skin down, with a lid ready. Fry 4 minutes, until the skin blisters. Lift it out.

   Mark done

5. Plunge the pork into cold water 10 minutes, which makes the skin wrinkle, then dry it and cut into 1 cm slices.

   Mark done

6. Fry the chopped mei cai with the garlic, ginger and star anise in 2 tbsp of the oil 5 minutes.

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7. Add both soy sauces, the wine, sugar, bean curd and water and simmer 5 minutes.

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8. Pack the pork slices skin down in a deep heatproof bowl, overlapping, and pile the mei cai and its sauce on top.

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9. Steam 2 hours, topping the pan up with boiling water.

   Mark done

10. Pour the collected liquid into a pan, thicken it with the slaked cornflour, then invert the bowl onto a plate, lift it off, pour the sauce over and scatter with the spring onions.

    Mark done

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Why It Works

Rinse and soak the mei cai in several changes of water. It is preserved in a great deal of salt and sand both, and unwashed it is inedible and gritty — thirty minutes and three changes is the minimum. The pork is fried after being coloured with dark soy, and it will spit violently, so use a lid. Packing the slices skin down and steaming for two hours is what lets the fat render into the greens below; the greens are arguably the better half of the dish by the end.

After You've Cooked It

Refrigerated for 4 days in its bowl. Re-steam 30 minutes.

If You're Missing Something

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What to Serve Alongside

• Steamed rice
• Blanched greens
• A pot of tea

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Stir-Fried Water Spinach, Vegan Fried Rice.

Still Wondering?

Mei Cai Kou Rou Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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